Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Talks Warner Bro. Deal, Future of Movie Theaters
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome to our Bloomberg television and radio audiences around the world for an interview with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. And Ted, good morning to you. The less than straightforward question that everyone has, of course, is what happens next. But I wanted to put it to you like this. Does Netflix have the balance sheet, the sort of financing flexibility and the will, really, to amend everything improve, boost its bid for Warner Brothers Discovery's studios and streaming business if needed.
Let me tell you, we feel very good about the position we're in right now. So we've done we've done this. This process opened up Warner Brothers Discovery determined that within their strategic best interest to sell these assets. We entered into a negotiation with a very, very clear bidding process that they laid out for us, which we followed and won that bid. I think in the alternative, this guy has gone, you know, missed every deadline. They've been taking nine runs of this bid and they wish, you know, they're not seem to accept this outcome. So what we've done here is we've given Warner Brothers Discovery a seven day window to get some clarity about what Paramount is offering for this company. I believe that it's important to have that clarity.
I think it's important that the Warner Brothers Discovery shareholders deserve to have that certainty and clarity about this deal.
Now, your stock is down more than 30% since you announced this deal. So you feel good about it. Your shareholders, it's a little less clear. I know that I've heard you say that that is because of uncertainty, but it went down basically as soon as you went into this. So I'm just wondering, is there a point at which it goes down so much that you and your fellow board members have to reconsider if this is the right path?
Lucas, remember, we've run this company from the beginning for the long term. We think this deal will have a positive impact on the business for the long term. Remember, what we're doing in buying these assets is we've been creating original programming on Netflix for about a decade. They've been making original film materials for about 100 years. They have incredible IP. And we just happen to have a consumer model that can better maximize the returns on that IP. So I think it's a great long-term outcome. I think there has been some headwind in the stock. There's been some headwind in the sector, and there's been some headwind because of the AI trade, which I think is ironic because I think AI will be an amazing creator tool to actually make the entertainment business bigger and better than ever.
So I do think those things have got to play out. When I said they don't like uncertainty, there's concern about bidding wars and all those things, and we have always been an incredibly disciplined last buyer, and we will continue to be one here.
Ted, on those headwinds you mentioned, there are a portion of the Netflix investor base and the Warner Brothers Discovery investor base that kind of see this as defensive by you.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–5:53
2
What is Netflix's strategy behind acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery?
5:53–8:13
3
How does Ted Sarandos address concerns about Netflix's financial position?
8:13–13:46
4
What impact will the Warner Bros. deal have on shareholders?
13:46–16:55
Speakers
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